Health & WellnessS


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Case of NDM-1 Superbug Appears to be First Acquired Within Canada: Researchers

Sheryl Ubelacker
The Canadian Press
Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press / Kirsty WigglesworthThis Oct. 12, 2009 photo shows a petri dish with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) cultures at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, England. It's in this hospital that Dr. Lynne Liebowitz, a temporarily employed microbiologist, got tired of seeing the stunningly low Nordic MRSA rates while facing her own burgeoning cases. So she turned her Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn into a petri dish, asking doctors to almost completely stop using two antibiotics known for provoking MRSA infections. One month later, the results were in: MRSA rates were tumbling. And they've continued to plummet. Five years ago, the hospital had 47 MRSA bloodstream infections. This year they've had one.
Canadian researchers have identified what appears to be the first domestically acquired case of an NDM-1 superbug.

An 86-year-old Ontario man was found to be carrying bacteria resistant to most antibiotics because of NDM-1, or New Delhi metallo-1, an enzyme that alters the DNA of various types of bacteria. NDM-1 is endemic in India and Pakistan and has spread worldwide due to global travel.

But the patient, who was admitted to hospital and then a rehabilitation centre after suffering a stroke last October, had not travelled outside southwestern Ontario for the last decade. None of the man's family members or other close contacts were carrying the superbug, nor had any been to parts of the world where NDM-1 is widespread.

"So it's really unfortunately a mystery in terms of his source, and it certainly suggests that he acquired it here in the southwestern Ontario region," said Dr. Susan Poutanen, an infectious disease physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

"So whether it was in Toronto, whether it was outside of Toronto, whether it was in hospital or whether it was in the community, at this point we really can't say," added Poutanen, principal investigator of a study describing the case.

She said the case is not cause for public alarm but is meant to alert hospitals and laboratories not to dismiss NDM-1 as a cause of drug-resistant bacteria in patients merely because they have not travelled outside Canada.
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Gear

The Drug Metyrapone to Erase Bad Memories?

Rick Nauert PhD
PsychCentral
Fri, 27 May 2011 16:02 UTC
Pill Bottles
© PsychCentral

University of Montreal researchers say that the drug metyrapone reduces the brain's ability to re-record the negative emotions associated with painful memories. In other words, bad memories are effectively blocked from being recalled or remembered.

The team's study challenges the theory that memories cannot be modified once they are stored in the brain.

"Metyrapone is a drug that significantly decreases the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that is involved in memory recall," explained lead author Marie-France Marin, a doctoral student.

Manipulating cortisol close to the time of forming new memories can decrease the negative emotions that may be associated with them, the researchers said.

"The results show that when we decrease stress hormone levels at the time of recall of a negative event, we can impair the memory for this negative event with a long-lasting effect," said Sonia Lupien, Ph.D., who directed the research.
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Evil Rays

Cell Phones and Cancer: Assessment Classifies Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields as Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans


ScienceDaily
Tue, 31 May 2011 15:10 UTC
Evil Rays
© fderib / FotoliaA new World Health Organization report classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans, based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, associated with wireless phone use.

The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer1, associated with wireless phone use.

Background

Over the last few years, there has been mounting concern about the possibility of adverse health effects resulting from exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, such as those emitted by wireless communication devices. The number of mobile phone subscriptions is estimated at 5 billion globally.

From May 24-31 2011, a Working Group of 31 scientists from 14 countries has been meeting at IARC in Lyon, France, to assess the potential carcinogenic hazards from exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. These assessments will be published as Volume 102 of the IARC Monographs, which will be the fifth volume in this series to focus on physical agents, after Volume 55 (Solar Radiation), Volume 75 and Volume 78 on ionizing radiation (X‐rays, gamma‐rays, neutrons, radio‐nuclides), and Volume 80 on non‐ionizing radiation (extremely low‐frequency electromagnetic fields).
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Info

Tips & Tricks for Starting (or Restarting) Low- Carb Pt I

Michael R. Eades, M.D.
proteinpower.com
Tue, 31 May 2011 10:40 UTC
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© Unknown
As anyone who has done it knows, getting started on a low-carb diet can be a little rough. Not for everyone, but for some. All too often these little front-end bumps in the road - coupled with the spirit of the times in which the well-intentioned but ignorant friends and relatives of low-carb dieters tell them their diet is going to croak their kidneys, clog their arteries and weaken their bones - can be enough to make many people abandon the most sincere efforts. Drawing on my almost 30 years of experience treating patients using the low-carb diet, I can give some tips and tricks for dealing with these difficult early days.

Comment: See also: Tips & tricks for starting (or restarting) low-carb Pt II

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Health

More evidence for PTSD, heart disease link

Genevra Pittman
Reuters
Tue, 31 May 2011 07:19 UTC
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© Stock
New York - People with post-traumatic stress disorder may be at a higher risk for heart disease, according to researchers.

In a study of U.S. war veterans, they found that those with PTSD were more likely to have fatty buildup, or plaque, in the arteries leading to the heart, called coronary artery disease.

The disease had also progressed farther in the mentally troubled vets, and they were more likely to die of any cause over the next three and a half years than their peers.

Joseph Boscarino, an investigator at Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health the new results confirm earlier findings.

Studies "keep showing this link between PTSD and various forms of cardiovascular disease," said Boscarino, who was not involved in the current work.

"Something needs to be done in terms of better interventions" for these individuals, he added.
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Family

Low-carb diet again trumps low-fat on weight loss and other things


DrBriffa
Tue, 31 May 2011 06:21 UTC
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Meat is good for you, particularly meat with lots of fat
While some see body weight as simply a function of the balance of the calories going into and out of the body, there is little doubt in my mind that this stance is becoming increasingly untenable. It is clear that body fat regulation is influenced by many factors, including levels of key hormones. A central player here is insulin - which encourages fat deposition. But other hormones worthy of mention include what are termed 'adipokines' (secreted by fat cells). One important adipokine is leptin. In March, I wrote a blog post dedicated to this substance which was inspired by the work of Dr Stephan Guyenet who writes the blog Whole Health Source.

Another adipokine that has received increasing attention in recent years is adiponectin. Like leptin, adiponectin has generally beneficial effects in the body. It, for instance, has anti-inflammatory effects and helps maintain 'insulin sensitivity'. Both of these effects would be expected to translate into a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The actions of adiponectin in the body are believed to offer protection again these conditions, as well as others including obesity, 'fatty liver' and metabolic syndrome. In short: adiponectin is a good thing.
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Bulb

Back pain relief linked to anatomical changes in brain

Christian Torres
Washington Post
Mon, 30 May 2011 22:57 UTC
When you're in constant pain, it can be hard to think of anything else. The pain clouds your thoughts like a fog, wearing away at your patience and your attention. New research, however, suggests that when relief does finally come, your brain can recover all the way down to a cellular level.

A report in the May 18 Journal of Neuroscience finds that relieving chronic lower back pain correlates with a return to normal brain function. Fourteen patients performed a cognitive task before and after one of two treatments, either spinal surgery or an injection of anesthesia between spinal joints. The cognitive task, which tested patients' ability to focus, involved picking out which of three numbers or letters didn't belong in a group.
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Nuke

Magnesium and Radiation Protection

Mark Sircus
Dr Sircus' Blog
Mon, 30 May 2011 18:34 UTC
magnesium
© unknownIt is in a list of medicinals that prevent and treat cancer that we find helpful substances that treat and strengthen us against radiation contamination.
"In the years leading up to Chernobyl, some dairy farmers in Austria were using remineralization as a part of their operations. They added rock dust to liquid manure as well as combining it with compost, thereby removing odors and greatly increasing soil biota. As a result, cows had twice the normal lifespan and produced much more milk. Amazingly enough, after Chernobyl, the cheeses that were remineralized (as well as biodynamic cheeses) measured no radioactivity whatsoever. Austrians would stand in long lines in order to buy these safe, remineralized products," writes Joanna Campe.

Iodine is obviously not the only substance that we should run to in the face of increasing radiation threats. Magnesium is a vital mineral whose lack leaves us open to not only radioactive damages but also those from heavy metals and thousands of chemicals, which we are commonly exposed to. Mercury and now a long list of radioactive particles are floating in the environment like invisible clouds that have spread out everywhere. They are raining down on us, damaging and damning our future. We can no longer be passive about building our defenses against the toxic onslaught.

Without sufficient magnesium, the body accumulates toxins and acid residues, degenerates rapidly, and ages prematurely.
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Attention

EU Disease Center Says Killer Bacterium Worst of its Kind


AGI News
Sun, 29 May 2011 16:31 UTC
The epidemic of the killer-bacterium Escherichia Coli (EHEC) is among the worst of its kind. It has already infected 270 persons and killed 10 and has revealed to be the worst ever recorded in Germany. The statement was made by the Health experts of the Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
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Family

Women Going Gray Younger Than Ever, Study Finds

Emily Gyben
Fashion Etc
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:21 UTC
Lady Gaga
© Getty ImagesThe Gray Lady: Gaga and her silver strands at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.
Lady Gaga's gone gray, Kate Moss has dabbled with ashy highlights, and Kelly Osbourne has sported an entirely silver coif in the past. But for about a third of women under 30, a trip to the salon isn't necessary to jump on the gray-hair bandwagon.

A new survey commissioned by hair-care company John Frieda - which recently tapped chestnut-topped Katie Holmes as a spokesperson - found that 32 percent of women are going gray before they hit 30 years old - a 14 percent rise from 20 years ago.
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